The Twins Are Down Alan Roden In Their Strong Triple-A Outfield Depth

One of the Minnesota Twins' strongest areas of depth in the organization has taken a hit at Triple-A. On Friday night, St. Paul Saints outfielder Alan Roden had an awkward slide into home plate that kept him out of their lineup for the rest of the weekend.

Roden returned to the Saints lineup for their games on Tuesday and Wednesday and went 1-for-8 with three strikeouts. On Thursday, Twins GM Jeremy Zoll shared with Twins beat reporters in New York that Roden has a labrum tear, and Minnesota will be shut down for the next month.

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It’s a blow for Roden, who had a decent start to the 2026 season and was viewed as the first man up from St. Paul if the Twins needed to bolster their outfield depth in the Majors. Roden had a .275/.425/.464, 19.5% walk rate, 16.1% strikeout rate, three home runs, and 15 RBI over 87 plate appearances to start the year.

It’s the second injury that Roden has suffered since the Twins acquired him from the Blue Jays for Louis Varland and Ty France, along with Kendry Rojas, at last year’s trade deadline. Roden had only played in 12 games with the Twins last August before being shut down for the season with a left thumb sprain.

With Roden out for at least a month, this moves Twins No. 4 prospect, Emmanuel Rodriguez, up the depth chart. He’s now the most likely outfield bat the Twins will call up from Triple-A St. Paul if needed.

And Rodriguez has been helping his own case a bit, as he’s been on a hot streak since April 1, putting up four home runs, 14 RBI, a .289/.468/.622 slash line, a 22.6% walk rate, and 30.6% strikeout rate. He also had one of the hardest hit balls Minor League Baseball has ever seen in the Statcast era.

His home run on Saturday, April 18, came in the fifth inning of a game the Saints lost 6-4. However, Rodriguez got a slider right down the middle and crushed it out of CHS Field at 117.1 MPH.

Rodriguez is in a good spot to start the 2026 season. He’s performing well, but more importantly, remaining healthy, which has been a challenge for most of his pro-ball career. If he can maintain his hot performance for the next two to three weeks, then Rodriguez could force the Twins front office’s hand and earn his promotion to the big leagues before Memorial Day.

But the loss of Alan Roden comes at a bad time when he’s been performing well and could have seen a return to the Majors soon. Zoll shared with Twins beat reporters the option to keep him going, just as a DH, and avoid an IL stint was a possibility. However, the front office has instead taken the safer option, placing him on the IL for one month, in hopes of having him return for the rest of the 2026 season.